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[Kurshi BeJahaal]

Well, my job and busy life has not been cooperative lately. Working an hour and a half from home takes it out of you. But I managed to get some more painting on my plates. I'm also going to. Be adding darts to my knees, so that is kinda slowing down progress.

I started adding my very top accent color today, I'm pretty stoked on that!
Pre paint


And paint. I decided to add pistachio as my accent color. I don't know if it looks good to anyone else, but it's on there now. Haha!


I'm hoping to wash it off tomorrow and get a decent picture of it. I was planning on doing navy on the shoulders as my top color with a pistachio colored Rancor clan logo over one side and a mythosaur over the other, but I messed up and did one shoulder with pistachio stripes instead of the Navy. Idiot. But I guess I might just do that for the other shoulder and leave this one the odd one out. Thoughts?

[Aria]

Randomly not matching bits on kits are sometimes the best. As my Alor'ad is fond of telling us, he has a lime green stripe on his bucket (other wise gray) and one red knee. One shoulder bell is orange. It works.
So I'd say see how you like it, it might turn out pretty cool. 

Also, for a minuet I was confused about why you'd painted newspaper on your shin.... 

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

Well, I'm not too upset with my final layer on my plates! I took the tape off tonight and cleaned them up and here's what I got:







I'm definitely happier with the looks of the shoulder over the shin. But I still want to hit it with some sandpaper and blackwash it. So far so good!

Randomly not matching bits on kits are sometimes the best. As my Alor'ad is fond of telling us, he has a lime green stripe on his bucket (other wise gray) and one red knee. One shoulder bell is orange. It works.
So I'd say see how you like it, it might turn out pretty cool. 

Also, for a minuet I was confused about why you'd painted newspaper on your shin.... 

Hahaha. The newspaper was just a creative touch. I thought I'd do something unique. I hope you like it! 

[Aria]

Haha, love the newspaper touch, for sure. 

And the rest of the armor looks pretty nice too! That shoulder bell is killer. Good job.

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

One step closer! I finished the chest area (minus the ab plate) today!



And without the backplate in the picture I'm SLOWLY and meticulously working my way forward.



I still have so much more to do unfortunately. But I think the weather is finally on my side. Tomorrow I plan to finish the last bit of bondo to the knees, add the accent color to my other shin, cod and shoulder bell, bondo and sand the helmet and gaunts. I'm expecting to be off work early for once, so let's keep our fingers crossed. I've got a deadline to shoot for! I'm shooting to be in kit for the Motor City Con on May 15th.

UPDATE 3-18

i managed to get my stripes on the other shoulders as well as a bunch of other stuff done. I'll be doing my rancor logo in pistachio on the plate with blue stripes and a blue mythosaur on the other. I'm very satisfied with the way these are turning out!

Haha, love the newspaper touch, for sure. 

And the rest of the armor looks pretty nice too! That shoulder bell is killer. Good job.

Thank you Aria! I ALWAYS look forward to hearing your thoughts and reading your encouragement! I'm remaining hopeful to troop with you and your clan this May!

[Aria]

It's soon pretty!!!! I love the new weathering. You're going to look amazing! I can't wait to see it in May. 

[Ty'renn Argos]

Outstanding progress!!

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

Finally I can report some progress!! Woohoo!! I got my knees done! At first attempt I hated the weathering on my right knee. (coincidentally the knee armor on the right side of the picture.) I went way overboard with it and it just didn't look realistic.



I sprayed enough paint in a spare plastic cup to pool up and dipped my paintbrush in and fixed it by hand. I covered up some of the excessive and obnoxious scratches. Then I used black acrylic to sharpen the edges up and viola! Good as new! I'm quite happy with my results. Much more believable too.



My gauntlets are getting some attention once again too. I've got this one about ready for paint and final greebles. Like a dingus I forgot to put the silver down and some masking fluid BEFORE spraying on my black layer.  It's crunch time to get this thing done and approved before Motor City Con and I'm just getting ahead of myself. My OCD is really keeping me from making too much progress in a day though. Everything has to be done right or redone.





The buy'ce is getting close to being ready to paint too. After many bondo/sand/spot glaze/sand attempts, it's smoothing out pretty nicely. I'm still not happy with the helmet and want to buy a bucket sometime down the road, but I just can't afford it right now. So until then, I'll make due with my scratch build. I'm pretty proud of it, but it's not as "clean" looking as I'd like.




Not pictured accomplishments are some progress on my other gauntlet and my backplate attachment. When it's anything worth showing, I'll be sure to share!

It's soon pretty!!!! I love the new weathering. You're going to look amazing! I can't wait to see it in May. 

Thank you! I'm much happier with this paint job than my last "bird poop"  looking attempt. I HOPE I'm OM by May. I think it's doubtful, but I want to be in full kit regardless!

Outstanding progress!!

Thanks! It's such slow progress unfortunately. But it's coming together little by little! Fingers crossed that I don't have any major setbacks along the way!

[Aria]

Looks amazing.

The right knee did look a little over weathered, I like how it looks now though. LOVE your gaunt!! That's amazing. Someday I will have to get you to help me upgrade mine. 

Your bucket looks really good for a scratch build. I am still afraid to attempt one! 

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

Looks amazing.

The right knee did look a little over weathered, I like how it looks now though. LOVE your gaunt!! That's amazing. Someday I will have to get you to help me upgrade mine. 

Your bucket looks really good for a scratch build. I am still afraid to attempt one! 

Thank you, Vod! I seriously get frustrated and very unhappy with most of the things I'm working on until at some point something clicks and it comes together. This gaunt was one of those things. I felt that it just didn't look near as cool as all the other ones that I was seeing. But it's grown on me! I'd be happy to help with one for you too! 

And now tonight was the moment of truth. I started attaching my plates with snaps. Every little imperfection in shape, molding and size has come out. I spent so much time being irritated at how it was looking but I guess after seeing the picture it's really not that bad. I still have a few more snaps to add to the outside chest plates and then I'll get my ab plate trimmed and shaped better. So here's where I am right now.



 I definitely noticed that the top of my collar plate tapers down and is much more narrow than the top tabs of my backplate. I had hopes of overlapping the two and fastening them together, but I'm not sure if I can do that now. I can either 1) just go ahead and overlap them, 2) add two more shoulder bells to cover the flaw, or 3) trim the collar plate. I can add pictures to help clarify if I need to.

If I have to do option 3 my question is this: if I have to cut my collar plate down, how much space is allowed between the collar plate and backplate on your shoulders and still be approved? I've seen a small gap to what appears to be several inches.

[Straka Zulu]

Looks good. 
As for the back plate and collar, it might help to see a picture of the difference between them. 
I actually had to cut the tabs off the top of the standard Jango back plate, was the only way the back would keep from having a gap big enough to stuff a forearm in...

[Kris Jasra]

It's preferred to stick closer to the gap that Jango Fett has if you're going for that option and if you have to trim to have a larger gap, do so on the backplate rather than having a tiny collar on the front.

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

Looks good. 
As for the back plate and collar, it might help to see a picture of the difference between them. 
I actually had to cut the tabs off the top of the standard Jango back plate, was the only way the back would keep from having a gap big enough to stuff a forearm in...

Thank you! I'll definitely get a picture up when. I get to that point so you can see it. And everything (including spacing) looks okay? I've been worried that since my snaps are now on, I'd have to readjust everything. It's kind of a pain in the shebs getting these things to sit right!

It's preferred to stick closer to the gap that Jango Fett has if you're going for that option and if you have to trim to have a larger gap, do so on the backplate rather than having a tiny collar on the front.

Good to know. I feel like my collar plate stretches over the shoulders pretty far, so I'm not sure if I'd have any issues trimming the collar. As I told STRAKAZulu, I'll get a picture up for reference once everything is good on my chest and ab plates!  Thanks for the heads up!

[Aria]

As for the back plate and collar, it might help to see a picture of the difference between them. 

^^This 

But if you want to have a plate connecting them, my Ruus'alor, staprider, made little 'bridge' pieces to span the gap between his back plate and collar plate. It's actually started to catch on in our clan and a couple guys have them now. I'll see if I can find his WIP thread and maybe it'll give you ideas.

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

^^This 

But if you want to have a plate connecting them, my Ruus'alor, staprider, made little 'bridge' pieces to span the gap between his back plate and collar plate. It's actually started to catch on in our clan and a couple guys have them now. I'll see if I can find his WIP thread and maybe it'll give you ideas.

Yes! You just may be a lifesaver! Thank you!

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

Some updates!

I blackwashed some of my plates. I still want to dry brush some browns and coppers on them before I call it good. 









Any suggestions or did I do it right? The collar plate needs hit again. I'm not happy with it entirely.

Next up, I found some random plastic pieces in the dump truck at work. Construction has its perks. You get to find all kinds of junk to use on your kit. I cut a spot out in the back of my helmet and slapped them on for part of my vents. Then I added a piece of sintra underneath that I plan on adding some details to.



I added another pouch to my belt. I used mink oil to darken it a bit. I'm pretty happy with it. And this week I'm hoping to get my leather holster for my Westar done.



I did a few other various things, but I didn't grab a picture of anything. I took my flight suit to get tailored... And to fix what I did on Sunday. But since it's prom season, it'll be done in about two weeks. So that pushes everything down to the wire to get OM before Motor City. Argh.

[Aria]

You look nice and dirty! 
Basically the only advice I can offer for a black/brown wash is that it's really hard to do wrong....and the darker/dirtier you want, the more washes you do.

I like the vents. Those are cool!

You should bug them every day until they do your flight suit.    No, that's probably a horrible idea....but I hope it gets done for you sooner then two weeks.

[Vailin Flynn]

Everything's looking great, Vod. Nice work!

[Kol Varek]

Impressed with your work vod. Nice job, hope we'll see some pre-apps soon!

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

Impressed with your work vod. Nice job, hope we'll see some pre-apps soon!

Everything's looking great, Vod. Nice work!

Thank you both! As I'm trying to tie up loose ends on this kit, the pre app pics are a reality in the near future!

I typed a very elaborate and detailed update, but my page refreshed and I lost it all. So here's the cliff notes:

-I finished my boot cover plates (no picture yet) to go with these shoes I found at the local goodwill. Low top shoes are good to go, right?


-adjusted and fixed my chest and collar plates so I can trim my ab plate down. (will finish this week)

-added a mythosaur skull with a homemade stencil. I'm pretty happy with it!


-right gauntlet is nearly finished. I just need to put the topcoat on and boom! It'll be done. I'll do that ASAP after work tomorrow.

-left comms gauntlet is ready to paint. Thanks to Dha Bral's greeble kit I've made these gaunts look pretty sweet. For the sake of time, I'd love to just hurry up and get them done, but I believe that taking your time and doing things right the first time really pays off.




-ordered my visor from t-visor.com tonight.

-The helmet is nearly done also. I added an antenna and will be fixing this ear cap up with a little bondo and quiksteel. Maybe a few more greebs will end up on it as well. The visor above the grill needs trimmed and touched up.




-i bought my colors to tie four tzitzit onto my mando's belt. Since I'm a Jewish Mando and I wear these every day (unless I'm sleeping or in the gym), I'd like to add that subtley into my kit. I used three colors, pistachio, red, and navy blue. There is a scriptural requirement for me to wear four tzitzit on my garments (found in B'midbar/Numbers) and there has to be one blue thread. I'll be just wearing them off of my belt with two on each side. I don't think it'll be something that would hold up my approval process. Here's what I'm talking about, but the ones I make and wear aren't near that long:


I think that's about it for now. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

[Aria]

Wow! That's a ton of great progress!

The shoes look ok to me, but I know one of our guys who just went through had a problem with his low cut shoes looking too much like slippers, so you might want to see what they look like kitted up.

I like the mytho skull....plate spacing also looks really good. 

Dha's kits are the best. It looks awesome! I love the fact you've got old Xbox controller buttons on there...

Helmet looks good so far!

No, that shouldn't hold you up at all, I don't think. They'll probably look at it like a belt or added accessory but it shouldn't be a problem. Even if it is, as long as you let them know that you're required to wear the tzitzit and you should be fine. It might even be a really cool touch to the kit, you never know. 

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

I've been slowly plugging away with my spare hour or two here and there. I've got most of the kit being wrapped up now. I still have a few bigger projects, but nothing major. The ab plate needs cut and trimmed just a little and painted and the backplate needs painted after a little more shaping. But aside from that, blackwashing, some hand painting on my gauntlets, and snaps attached to my flight suit.

Here's some of the stuff all strewn out.


And a little better picture with the start of my girth belt and pouches.


The helmet is almost ready for paint. The visor is cut and fitted, but obviously not in for this picture.


And my gauntlets got their top coat tonight. I had them all red, but felt that they needed some color. I still have a few things to do (like remove the logo from the non-working LCD screen) before I call them done. I still have to hand paint some details and attach blaster type barrels.


Comms gaunt (left hand):



Blasty gaunt (right hand):

Wow! That's a ton of great progress!

The shoes look ok to me, but I know one of our guys who just went through had a problem with his low cut shoes looking too much like slippers, so you might want to see what they look like kitted up.

I like the mytho skull....plate spacing also looks really good. 

Dha's kits are the best. It looks awesome! I love the fact you've got old Xbox controller buttons on there...

Helmet looks good so far!

No, that shouldn't hold you up at all, I don't think. They'll probably look at it like a belt or added accessory but it shouldn't be a problem. Even if it is, as long as you let them know that you're required to wear the tzitzit and you should be fine. It might even be a really cool touch to the kit, you never know. 

Thanks Aria! I'm not sure if you can see it or not, but on my bucket's ear you can see two PS2 buttons. Both the R1 and L1 buttons are on there. That ear still needs more greebles! I have a box full of greeble goods but nothing looks right!

[Kol Varek]

Gotta say, the kit has really grown on my, especially the colors! Can't wait to see the helmet all done!

[Natan Vizsla]

Okay so I read back a few updates ago (Apr-12) and it looks like everything is on track.

The blackwash is great, really hard to screw it up since all you do is dirty everything.

Shoes should be ok but if not try and find spats, half chaps, or gaiters.

Both gauntlets look good but the screen needs the branding covered.

The keyslot area looks great, nice find on the greeblies. Looking closely at the controller trigger buttons I think I see the R1 and L1 still, if so that needs to be smoothed out.

The tzitzit should be no problem. Like Aria said they look like another accessory.

[Aria]

Ah! It looks so good!!  I can't wait to see it!!

(also, isn't is great that it's FINALLY nice enough outside to not have to wear shoes all the time?  )

The buckets looks amazing...I love the triggers.  I can't wait to see it all painted up!

The gaunts looks fantastic. And those pouches are great...a couple of the guys up here have those same ones, and I rely on them heavily for carrying things.  They're very nice to have and they look good with the kit.